LETTER FROM ALEXANDRIA

Last April the writer visited Alexandria. His acquaintance Abdul Rhaman, an architect, said that once Alexandria was oncecosmopolitan; many people spoke 4 or 5 languages. Today due to the Islamic revival there are not enough mosques or else there are too many Egyptians. The more the populations grows the stronger seems to be the revival. Tells about it. It all started under Sadat. He was assassinated by Islamic fanatics & since then the fundamentalists' influence has grown. Of the ancient Greek Alexandria little survives. Writer used as a guide a book by E.M. Forster, published in 1922, called "Alexandria: A History and a Guide". For more than three centuries Alexandria was the most learned place on earth. In 641 the Arab conqueror Amr took Alexandria. The city yielded almost without a struggle. Under the Arabs, it declined and Napoleon found only a simple fishing village there. The modern city was built in the 19th century by European entrepreneurs, who controlled most of Egypt's industry & commerce. It was often described as a "European" city. Mentions the many separate foreign communities. The revolution of 1952 hastened the departure or expulsion of practically the entire foreign community. Today there are fewer than 10,000 Europeans left in the city The population is about 5 times as large as 1948. It was estimated at 4 1/2 million earlier this year. The proximity of wealth & wretchedness is a main feature of life. The city is poorly served by an infrastructure built for a fraction of its present population. The Army is the mainstay of the present Egyptian regime.